The Top 50 British Albums Ever

[da_notorious_mack]

from an english perspective id have the streets "a grand dont cum 4 free"and dizzees "boy in the corner" in


without the streets.....lily allen,mitchell brothers,kate nash etc wouldnt have broke through imo....Skinner pretty much encapsulated the english/cockney wide boy


same for Dizzee...between him and wiley dey basically created a new style and genre...

for these reasons and the music in its own right they should be up there...not nesecarrily in the high end but in there somewhere no doubt...i mean i couldnt tell the difference listenin to some of the bands listening and id rather the list was built on innovation and the effect an album made

[Sweet & Tender Hooligan]

lol at some of white boy's posts: Not trying to offend you, but why should you consider an Irish album British? Do you consider Canadian albums US-American or Russian albums Chinese because the countries border each other? But you're correct about Northern Ireland having to count. And it's called "Plastic Ono Band" by the way...but you get a prop for mentioning it 

And Oasis are by no stretch of the imagination "Pop".

of course they are. i won't charge you with anything before i'm sure, but somehow on internet forums and also elsewhere, there is a widespread notion that labelling something or someone "pop" is implicitly derogatory. Pop is short for "popular music"; Radiohead are an elaborate pop band. 50 Cent is a pop star. The Beatles are pop icons. I usually call something "pop" when I don't see it in another clearly definable category. Like I said, Oasis' first 2 albums were great pop albums. "Definitely Maybe" had a slightly post-grungy post-shoegazing post-post-punk rock feel to it, "Morning Glory" developed this into a more intricate and sophisticated style, inserting elements from other genres, and at the same time including some very mass-appealing production ("Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back in Anger")......not feeling like digging too deep into that type of stuff, you can refer to this music as pop and there's no need to stretch your imagination the slightest bit. And I guess you have heard the term "Britpop", which Oasis are commonly associated with.

As for the streets, dude is great, but just not big enough to compete with the legends and superstars up there. Dizzee Rascal, fuhgeddaboutit

Hmm, my apologies. I thought you were trying to be derogatory, clearly not the case. *Retracts statement*

[KURUPTION-81]

from an english perspective id have the streets "a grand dont cum 4 free"and dizzees "boy in the corner" in

in trerms of music and not the actual impact it had, skinnyman's council estate of mind is better than both.

If one uk hip hop album deserves to be on the list its that.

[MANBEARPIG.]

I had no idea people loved Keane so much, seems weird to me.

In any case.  I really saw that list coming a mile away.  I expected radiohead and oasis in the top 20 with every fuckin beatles album rounding out the top 10.

and to add fuel to the Pop argument.  Theres the growth of pop as a genre of indie, basically all the really happy light sounding music such as Architecture in Helsinki, Belle and Sebastian, I'm From Barcelona, Pipas, Polyphonic Spree and so on.

Pop is awesome term as it can apply to anything and is really only a matter of interpretation. 

[MediumL]

Is it just me that thought that a Gorrillaz album deserved to be on there? I dunno cause im not a big fan of rock and to me groups like Libertines are good but not anythin i havent seen before. Plus Original Pirate Material is a crazy album, def one of the classic British albums on the 21st century.

[TheDeli]

Van Morrison is from Belfast, therefore he could have been on the list

Only one Blur album on the list, Keane at number 8, and Oasis being at both 1 & 2, thats just some of the things wrong with the list

Stone Roses should have been ahead Definitely Maybe & Whats the Story IMO

No Paul Weller or The Jam and only one Verve album

OK Computer at number 3 and no Pablo Honey 

Yet another poor 'greatest' list IMO

Some good albums but it could and should have been so much better

[ToOoOoN!!!]

And as for Oasis, yes, they're blown outta proportion on here and no way they made the two best British albums ever, but don't hate. Those were two pretty good pop albums

oasis are indie aren't they?

thought joy division unknown pleasures would have been higher, awesome album

joy division are amazing

[Kill]

and to add fuel to the Pop argument.  Theres the growth of pop as a genre of indie, basically all the really happy light sounding music such as Architecture in Helsinki, Belle and Sebastian, I'm From Barcelona, Pipas, Polyphonic Spree and so on.

Pop is awesome term as it can apply to anything and is really only a matter of interpretation. 

true

Is it just me that thought that a Gorrillaz album deserved to be on there? I dunno cause im not a big fan of rock and to me groups like Libertines are good but not anythin i havent seen before. Plus Original Pirate Material is a crazy album, def one of the classic British albums on the 21st century.

I never really got into Gorillaz, but I won't argue because that's a matter of opinion. But what I have to say as a Libertines fan is that the Doherty/Barat style was eclectic, but indeed quite original. As far as guitar-driven rock goes, there wasn't a sound of that intensity and quality since The Clash made London Calling and The Libertines added a great deal of Beatlesque melodies, Britrock-influenced structure and rough poetry to that, making it all into a mix that was not heard before (as far as my education on the subject goes - if you can tell me about a band who did all that before them, I'll definitely check it out). IMHO they were one of the best bands of the 21st century so far and "Up the Bracket" def deserves its spot up there.

[Sweet & Tender Hooligan]

and to add fuel to the Pop argument.  Theres the growth of pop as a genre of indie, basically all the really happy light sounding music such as Architecture in Helsinki, Belle and Sebastian, I'm From Barcelona, Pipas, Polyphonic Spree and so on.

Pop is awesome term as it can apply to anything and is really only a matter of interpretation. 

true

Is it just me that thought that a Gorrillaz album deserved to be on there? I dunno cause im not a big fan of rock and to me groups like Libertines are good but not anythin i havent seen before. Plus Original Pirate Material is a crazy album, def one of the classic British albums on the 21st century.

I never really got into Gorillaz, but I won't argue because that's a matter of opinion. But what I have to say as a Libertines fan is that the Doherty/Barat style was eclectic, but indeed quite original. As far as guitar-driven rock goes, there wasn't a sound of that intensity and quality since The Clash made London Calling and The Libertines added a great deal of Beatlesque melodies, Britrock-influenced structure and rough poetry to that, making it all into a mix that was not heard before (as far as my education on the subject goes - if you can tell me about a band who did all that before them, I'll definitely check it out). IMHO they were one of the best bands of the 21st century so far and "Up the Bracket" def deserves its spot up there.

True Story. Also agree with "The Deli" (for the first, and probably last?) time, Not a single Jam, Style council or Weller album? I had to re check the list to make sure that was right. What is the criteria for the list? Quality of music, mainstream appeal or cultural impact or what?

[Kill]

What is the criteria for the list? Quality of music, mainstream appeal or cultural impact or what?

as voted for in a poll conducted by Q magazine and HMV

....so basically it's just their readers' personal favorites

[white Boy]

libertines are dope as fuck, i like babyshambles as well
as far as radiohead goes, most consider pablo honey their worst, i like it, but id put the bends and ok computer ahead, plus id put kid a ahead also , even tho i dont like it that much

[MidoriHaze]

^^Yeah i think you'd be struggling to find a best of list that includes Pablo Honey.


I don't have a problem with the order because the results are very reflective of what is still prominent in today's British music circles, and after all it is a British poll.

If you take a look at how the poll was formed you'd be able to see that it was never going to be a credible list from an outside point of view. Firstly Q has a Rock/Indie orientation therefore fans of hip hop/heavier music wouldn't buy the magazine, therefore wouldn't be voting for their style of music. HMV on the other hand are a major distributor of top 40/commercial tunes, which probably accounts for how Keane polled so high.

Secondly the British public are very fickle when it comes to their music. It's quite rare that a new release will hold on to the number one spot for more than 3wks, so if this poll was to happen in another 5 years the outcome would be a lot different to what polled this time. Mind you it could have been worse.. could have been a NME poll

[ToOoOoN!!!]

no new order